Course: Earth Science Unit: Stars Topic: Parallax - Measuring Distances in Space
Instructional Objectives:
Students will be able to
· Explain what stellar parallax is
· Explain how astronomers use parallax to measure the distances of stars
· Determine the distance between Earth and Venus by using the measurement of parallax
Intro:
Students will be asked how they think astronomers can measure the distances of stars from earth. Students will briefly discuss their ideas. After the discussion, the teacher will explain parallax by having students hold up their index finger at arms length at look at it with one eye open alternating each eye. The change is position they observe is what is called parallax. Students will experiment with this by moving their finger closer to their eyes, still alternating between the right and left eyes. They will notice that the change in the shift is greater.
Body:
Students will measure the distance between Earth and Venus by determining the parallax during the transit of Venus. The teacher will display the image of the planet Venus crossing the sun and explaining the transit of Venus. After, the teacher will show the students the equation for determining the parallax and what each variable means. Next the teacher will display the parallax table of Venus which displays the displacements of the planet in every image. The teacher will use this table to help students determine the distance between the Earth and Venus. The students will be placed in groups of three to carry out the calculations to determine the distance. The teacher will explain each step of the process and then will leave the groups of students to complete the calculations on their own.
Conclusion:
Once students are finished the teacher will go over the calculations step by step so that students can follow along to see if they followed the steps correctly and to see if their calculations match. During each step the teacher will explain how and why she got the answer. The calculations can be difficult so students shouldn’t be discouraged if they don’t get them right. To end the class students will discuss why the rotation of the earth makes it easy for astronomers to determine the parallax shift and how the parallax to any stellar object can be found.
Assessment:
Students will be assesed by:
Their ability to explain and describe what parallax is
Their ability to explain how astronomer determine the parallax of space objects
Unit: Stars
Topic: Parallax - Measuring Distances in Space
Instructional Objectives:
Students will be able to
· Explain what stellar parallax is
· Explain how astronomers use parallax to measure the distances of stars
· Determine the distance between Earth and Venus by using the measurement of parallax
Intro:
Students will be asked how they think astronomers can measure the distances of stars from earth. Students will briefly discuss their ideas. After the discussion, the teacher will explain parallax by having students hold up their index finger at arms length at look at it with one eye open alternating each eye. The change is position they observe is what is called parallax. Students will experiment with this by moving their finger closer to their eyes, still alternating between the right and left eyes. They will notice that the change in the shift is greater.
Body:
Students will measure the distance between Earth and Venus by determining the parallax during the transit of Venus. The teacher will display the image of the planet Venus crossing the sun and explaining the transit of Venus. After, the teacher will show the students the equation for determining the parallax and what each variable means. Next the teacher will display the parallax table of Venus which displays the displacements of the planet in every image. The teacher will use this table to help students determine the distance between the Earth and Venus. The students will be placed in groups of three to carry out the calculations to determine the distance. The teacher will explain each step of the process and then will leave the groups of students to complete the calculations on their own.
Conclusion:
Once students are finished the teacher will go over the calculations step by step so that students can follow along to see if they followed the steps correctly and to see if their calculations match. During each step the teacher will explain how and why she got the answer. The calculations can be difficult so students shouldn’t be discouraged if they don’t get them right. To end the class students will discuss why the rotation of the earth makes it easy for astronomers to determine the parallax shift and how the parallax to any stellar object can be found.
Assessment:
Students will be assesed by:
Sources:
Activity 1 of :**Transit of Venus**
Teacher Resources:
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